The new US measures, announced in a statement on Tuesday, followed a heightened security warning from Washington on Friday that prompted the closure of several Western embassies in Yemen and several US missions across the Middle East and Africa.
It also came after at least four suspected al-Qaeda members were killed in what local tribal leaders said was a US drone strike in central Yemen early on Tuesday.
"The Department urges US citizens to defer travel to Yemen and those US citizens currently living in Yemen to depart immediately," the statement posted on its website said.
The UK's foreign office, meanwhile, advised against all travel to Yemen, and "strongly urge[d] British nationals to leave now". It said that all British embassy staff had been temporarily withdrawn from the country. The UN's refugee agency also boosted security, though it did not withdraw its personnel.
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